MURMURINGSbyACS

In a display of unperturbed solidarity and support --- members of the media, lawyers, legal luminaries, human rights groups and advocates, families and friends of slain journalists and victims of extrajudicial killings (EJK), made an appeal to the President to make a definitive statement against killings and impunity in the country during a forum at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. The forum highlighted the beginning of a multisectoral campaign to end impunity which also underscored recommendations from lawyers and media to thwart threats and violence against them.  The broad coalition challenged once again the government to put an end to extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. Also present were officials from the Department of Justice, Philippine National Police, Commission on Human Rights and National Bureau of Investigation who presented their own plan of actions. Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno (Photo by NUJP) Former Supreme Court Chief Ju...

Before we know it, Pinoys will be rushing again for bulk purchases for presents this Christmas.  Seemingly there goes again the vicious cycle of buying gifts and groceries at a time when malls are thick with crazy shoppers and streets are seriously heavy with 'I do not know where all these stuff are coming from'. We hate it; but why we do it over and over again, just escapes rhyme and reason.  Probably, it goes with the thrill of the yuletide season --- or is it because where everything in this country is just a mess --- we just love mess.  When things get messier and our level of tolerance runs dry, we put the blame on somebody and anybody who we think is getting into our nerve.  Stupendous! I mean, plain stupidity. But what are we to do!  Christmas is just so infectious.  And anything Christmassy is fashionable and fascinating.  Pinoy's unquestionable penchant for long and extended celebrations goes beyond socio-economic limitations.  It's c...

Just like the Oscars, the Miss Universe can be unpredictable --- and also predicable in the choice of winners.  For any country whose occasional happiness and temperament are latched on either a demigod or a modern-day hero, any result of any competition – from a small-time barangay contest to one that is national in scale can be questionable.  And no amount of explanation or justification whatsoever will vanquish any misgiving on an unfavorable result. Call it extremism, fundamentalism, obsession --- they’re all one and the same – fanaticism, a do or die. If things written about the recent beauty pageant are not enough, here goes another mouthful.  Yes, there is a pattern and a formula too.  And in between, spring surprises which by the way, are all part of the grand scheme or confluence of things we spectators will never fathom.  Leave them to the experts who are as confused and adamant as the hard-core, when their predictions wander from the actual result...

Imagine the time when PLDT was the dominant player in telecommunication for more than half a century, the oil industry only had three players --- Pilipinas Shell, Petron and Caltex, and Philippine Airlines was the only choice for an airline.  “Lee Kwan Yew once quipped that in the Philippines, 99 percent of the population waited for a phone line, while the remaining 1 percent waited for a dial tone,” said Dr. Ronald U. Mendoza, executive director of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center in a media forum on competition policy at the AIM organized by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR).  Deregulation changed all that in the mid-1990s.  The emergence of competition in various industries have policy makers and competition advocates now thinking if this is favorable to the consumers, new players or small-scale businesses.

Published in Yahoo Fit to Post | The Inbox Saturday, September 3, 2011 Even government officials have now joined media practitioners and civil society organizations in urging President Benigno Aquino III to certify as urgent the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill, which has failed to make it to his list of priority bills.  The call was made at a recent forum on Philippine Public Transparency Reporting, advocating support for citizen engagement towards good governance. It is a project supported by the Australian Agency for International Development (AUSAID).  Senator TG Guingona, forum guest speaker, said the FOI Bill is a very important bill that needs to be passed because  "freedom of information is the cornerstone of transparency."